Bank profit up in 3rd quarter

Updated 7:35 pm, Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Elon Musk and his SpaceX will be among firms that can bid to supply parts for Air Force rockets.

Elon Musk and his SpaceX will be among firms that can bid to supply parts for Air Force rockets.

Photo: Angela K. Brown, Associated Press

Bank profit up in 3rd quarter

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BANKING

Profit up 6.6% in 3rd quarter

U.S. banks had net income of $37.6 billion in the third quarter, a 6.6 percent increase over the same period last year, as operating revenue grew the most in three years, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Tuesday.

Industry profits beat the prior year for a 13th straight quarter, with 57.5 percent of banks reporting gains on earnings that increased from $34.4 billion in the previous quarter, the FDIC said in its Quarterly Banking Profile. Lenders set aside $14.8 billion for bad loans, and the $22.3 billion in charge-offs showed declines in all categories except residential real estate.

Residential lending was up $14.5 billion in the quarter, trailing the industry's $64.8 billion gain from commercial and industrial loans, the FDIC said.

AEROSPACE

Bidding to open on rocket parts

The Air Force is authorized to buy as many as 14 booster cores over the next five years from potential competitors such as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX and headed by billionaire Elon Musk, and Orbital Sciences Corp., Frank Kendall, the Pentagon's top weapons buyer, wrote in a Nov. 27 memo obtained by Bloomberg News. A booster core is the main component of a rocket.

The competitive contracts may be awarded as early as fiscal 2015 for missions that can be flown in 2017, Kendall wrote.

The ruling helps secure the position of smaller rivals to Verizon and AT&T, such as MetroPCS Communications and T-Mobile. Those competitors, lacking a national network, need to be able to provide mobile customers with the same seamless access to e-mail and Internet that they offer with voice calls outside their service areas.

AGRICULTURE

Record Brazil coffee harvest

Record coffee harvests in Brazil are compounding a global glut of arabica used by Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts.

Brazilian farmers are expected to reap 50.8 million bags in 2013, a record for a low-crop season, according to analyst estimates. The harvest reached 55.9 million 132-pound bags in 2012, an all-time high for a peak year. Output usually drops in alternate years because of growing cycles. Prices may fall 12 percent to $1.31 a pound by June 30, analysts predict.

Futures have slumped about 50 percent since May 2011, as the highest prices in 14 years spurred Brazilian farmers to boost supply. Their exports jumped 54 percent to $8.7 billion in 2011.